New Octavia vRS iV – Skoda’s sporty plug-in Octavia – costs from £35,020

The new Octavia vRS iV, a plug-in hybrid version of Skoda’s sporty Octavia vRS range, costs from £35,020 in the UK and goes on sale on November 3 2020.

It’s 2020, and car makers are running scared of big fines for exceeding the newest EU CO2 fleet averages, so if a new car comes along then you can be pretty sure there will be a plug-in hybrid version to help fleet CO2 averages and pander to the business user’s need for lower BIK rates too.

So this time round, the new Skoda Octavia isn’t just delivering a petrol and diesel vRS performance version, but a plug-in hybrid too with the new Octavia vRS iV.

The Skoda Octavia vRS iV comes as either a Hatch or Estate and in almost all the ways you can think of mimics the look and feel of the ICE vRS models, but with that all important plug-in hybrid powertrain.

That means a 1.4 litre TSI turbo petrol engine mated to a 114bhp electric motor for a combined 242bhp and 295lb/ft of torque, good for a 0-62mph of 7.3 seconds and the usual bonkers PHEV official economy of 200mpg plus. Which you won’t get.

The battery pack for the PHEV vRS is a decent 13kW which, officially, is enough for a 39-mile EV range, although, as long as you actually get round to plugging it in, that will probably be mid-20s at best in the real world.

The plug-in hybrid Skoda Octavia goes on sale on 3 November at £35,020 for the Hatch and £36,220 for the Estate.